F4 Academy: An intense return to the season expected at Lédenon
There are still two rounds to go in the French F4 Championship (Lédenon and Paul Ricard) and a lot can still happen! The favourites are well known, but many will be aiming for the podium on the Gard toboggan run.
The 2023 season is far from over, but we can already be sure that it will be a good one! With 26 single-seaters on the grid and seven different winners since the start of the year, the championship run by the FFSA Academy continues to confirm its appeal. After its two European expeditions at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium in June and Misano in Italy in July, French F4 will make its comeback at the Lédenon GT Series meeting (French FFSA Circuits Championship) from 22nd to 24th September.
Evan Giltaire and Enzo Peugeot set to duel again
Evan Giltaire and Enzo Peugeot are two promising French kart racers who have left their mark on the first five rounds of the French F4 Championship. In his first year in a single-seater, Evan Giltaire has already won five races and leads the provisional standings with 228 points, but only seven points separate him from Enzo Peugeot, winner on four occasions. The latter learned a lot on his F4 debut in 2022, when he finished 5th overall, and is now ready to fight for the title.
Mathematically, their four pursuers remain in contention for the title thanks to several successive podium finishes, even though the gap appears difficult to close. Romain Andriolo and Kevin Foster are neck and neck, with 149 points for the Frenchman against 148 for the Canadian, who was scouted during the 2022 Feed Racing Volant. Hiyu Yamakoshi is the only driver in the top six not to have won a race this season and he is dreaming of achieving that goal. Unlucky at Misano in July, the Japanese driver stayed outside the top 10 in all three races, without being able to increase his score from 107 points. In contrast, American Garrett Berry added a second win to his tally in Italy, moving to within 13 points of Yamakoshi.
A number of outsiders have come on strongly in recent races and will be looking to make their mark at Lédenon, whether they are repeaters like Edgar Pierre, Spain’s Pol Lopez and Enzo Richer, or single-seater debutants such as Belgium’s Yani Stevenheydens, Italy’s Leonardo Megna, Adrien Closmenil, who has already won at Magny-Cours, Louis Schlesser or Germany’s Tom Kalender.
> Lédenon 2023 F4 programme
Friday 22nd September: Free practice (10:05 – 10:35) and Qualifying (15:00 – 15:25)
Saturday 23rd September: Race 1 (09:05 – 09:35) and Race 2 (15:35 – 16:06)
Sunday 24th September: Race 3 (09:45 – 10:15)
Provisional timetable, subject to change during the meeting.
> Race duration: 20 minutes + 1 lap
> Mygale single-seater, Renault turbo engine, Pirelli tyres, 100% renewable Repsol biofuel.
> Provisional standings after Misano
1 n°95 Evan Giltaire (France) 228 pts
2 n°74 Enzo Peugeot (France) 221 pts
3 n°16 Romain Andriolo (France) 149 pts
4 n°26 Kevin Foster (Canada) 148 pts
5 n°6 Hiyu Yamakoshi (Japan) 107 pts
6 n°18 Garrett Berry (USA) 94 pts
7 n°17 Yani Stevenheydens (Belgium) 68 pts
8 n°27 Edgar Pierre (France) 55 pts
9 n°5 Pol Lopez (Spain) 53 pts
10 n°66 Enzo Richer (France) 44 pts
11 n°3 Leonardo Megna (Italy) 31 pts
12 n°14 Adrien Closmenil (France) 23 pts
13 n°61 Louis Schlesser (France) 23 pts
14 n°11 Tom Kalender (Germany) 22 pts
15 n°9 Karel Schulz (France) 11 pts
16 n°37 Luca Savu (Romania) 8 pts
17 n°89 Jason Leung (Canada) 8 pts
18 n°10 Andrei Duna (Romania) 8 pts
19 n°28 Max Reis (Germany) 8 pts
20 n°44 Yaroslav Veselaho (Ukraine) 6 pts
22 n°4 Finn Wiebelhaus (Germany) 6 pts
22 n°22 Frank Porte Ruiz (Andorra) 2 pts
23 n°7 Paul Alberto (France) 2 pts
24 n°77 Joao Paulo Diaz Balesteiro (Colombia)
25 n°46 Gabriel Doyle-Parfait (Great Britain)
26 n°2 Edouard Borgna (France)
Follow the event on the ffsaacademy.org website and on social networks.
FFSA Academy – Press Release / Photo © KSP – Guillaume Veuve